Randomizing cam for toy phonograph

ABSTRACT

A toy phonograph of the type wherein a child pulls a knob to unwind a tape record from a take-up reel, and then releases the knob to allow a spring to rewind the tape on the reel while a needle plays a groove on the tape. A backup member is positioned at a face of the tape opposite the needle, and tension produced as a child pulls the knob moves the backup member away from the needle so that the needle does not engage a tape groove during windup. The needle is mounted on one leg of a V-shaped tone arm, the other leg of the tone arm carrying a cam follower pin. The cam follower pin is engaged with a cam that rotates during windup, so that the needle moves back and forth across the tape only during windup and falls into a randomly selected groove on the tape when playback begins.

United States Patent Baynes et al.

RANDOMIZING. CAM FOR TOY PHONOGRAPH Inventors: William R. Baynes, Palos Verdes Peninsula; Robert L. Cowell, Manhattan Beach; Herbert May, Lawndale, all of Calif.

Primary Examiner-Louis R. Prince Assistant Examiner-Steven L. Stephan Att0meySeym0ur A. Scholnick [57] ABSTRACT A toy phonograph of the type wherein a child pulls a knob to unwind a tape record from a take-up reel, and then releases the knob to allow a spring to rewind the tape on the reel while a needle plays a groove on the tape. A backup member is positioned at a face of the tape opposite the needle, and tension produced as a child pulls the knob moves the backup member away from the needle so that the needle does not engage a tape groove during windup. The needle is mounted on one leg of a V-shaped tone arm, the other leg of the tone arm carrying a cam follower pin. The cam follower pin is engaged with a cam that rotates during windup, so that the needle moves back and forth across the tape only during windup and falls into a randomly selected groove on the tape when playback begins.

RANDOMIZING CAM FOR TOY PHONOGRAPH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION One type of toy phonograph which has been used in dolls and other toys, includes a tape with several parallel grooves extending along its length. When a child pulls a knob or pull ring away from the toy, the tape is drawn from a take-up wheel while a spring is wound up. When the child releases the knob, the spring turns the take-up wheel to rewind the tape on it, while a needle engaged with one of the grooves plays back the sounds recorded on it. During withdrawal of tape from the take-up wheel, it is desirable that the needle not be engaged with any of the tape grooves. Although this can be accomplished by moving the needle away from the tape path, this can sometimes complicate mounting of a tone arm that holds the needle.

As the tape is drawn off the take-up wheel and the needle is disengaged from the tape, the needle can be moved laterally across the tape. The needle then can fall into a different tape groove when playing begins again. Various randomizing cams have been proposed to laterally move the needle. While several of such devices have not been especially complicated, further simplicity is desirable so that the toy phonographs can be produced at the lowest possible cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a toy phonograph is provided which employs a tape record that is unwound from a take-up wheel as a child pulls a knob at one end of the tape. When the child releases the knob, the tape rewinds onto the wheel while a needle engages one of several grooves on the tape to play back the recording therein. The tape extends over a backing member that lies opposite the needle to hold the tape against the needle during playing. The knob pulled by the child is positioned so that as a child pulls it, the backing member is urged away 4 from the needle to enable disengagement of the tape from the needle. When a child releases the knob, a spring urges the backing member towards the needle to hold the tape there against.

The phonograph includes a V-shaped tone arm that is pivotally mounted on the phonograph housing at the location where the inner ends of the legs of the V meet. The needle is mounted at the outer end of one of the legs, while a pin-like cam follower is mounted at the outer end of the other leg. The pin-like cam follower is engaged with a cam that rotates during withdrawal of tape from the wheel, so that the needle is moved from side to side over the tape, and will engage a randomly selected tape groove when playing begins.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawmgs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a phonograph constructed in accordance with the invention, shown prior to windup of the spring;

FIG. 2 is a partially sectional view of the phonograph of FIG. 1, as viewed fromthe left side thereof;

FIG. 3 is a view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1, showing the tone arm and cam mechanism thereof;

FIG. 4 is a partially sectional view of the phonograph as viewed from the left side of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but showing the phonograph mechanism during winding of the spring; and I FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the tone-arm and cam mechanism of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF. THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As best shown in FIG. 1, the toy phonograph includes a tape record 10 with several parallel grooves or sound tracks extending parallel to the length of the tape. The tape 10 has an inner end 12 fastened to a take-up wheel 14, and an outer end 16 fastened to a pull knob 18. The take-up wheel 14 is rotatably mounted-on a frame 20. The frame 20 also carries a backing member 22 and a guide roller 24, and the tape 10 extends from the wheel '14 about the backing member 22 and roller 24 to the knob 18. If a child first pulls out the knob 18 from the toy phonograph housing 26 and then releases the knob, a coil spring 28 turns the take-up wheel 14 to rewind the tape on it. During such rewind of the tape, a stylus or needle 29 engages a record groove on the tape to produce sounds recorded in the groove.

During playing of the tape record, it is desirable that the backing member 22 urge the tape against the nee- .dle 29 to help insure engagement of the tape with the needle. The frame 20 is slideably mounted on the housing 26 for movement towards and away from the needle 29. A coil spring 30 (FIG. 2) urges the frame upwardly towards the needle, and therefore urges the backing member 22 upwardly and causes it to hold the tape against the needle. During pulling of the knob 18 to unwind the tape from the take-up wheel 14, it is desirable that the tape 10 be disengaged from the needle 29. As shown in FIG. 5, tension forces applied to the tape 10 as it is pulled out of the phonograph housing urge the frame 20 downwardly away from the needle 29. The tension forces are sufficient to slide the frame 20 against the force of the spring 30, so that the backing member 22 moves away from the needle 29 and the tape is clear of the needle. Of course, when a child releases the knob 18 and tension forces in the tape are substantially eliminated, the frame can be moved upwardly by the spring 30 and hold the tape against the needle.

The tape 10 should move at a constant, moderate speed during tape rewind onto the takeup wheel 14,

which is when the needle 29 is engaged with the tape. A governor 32 is rotatably mounted in the phonograph housing and is coupled to the take-up wheel 14 to promote a relatively constant moderate speed. A worm wheel 34 (FIG. 4) is fixed to the take-up wheel 14, and it engages a screw 36 that is fixed to the governor 32. As the take-up wheel 14 is rotated during rewind of the tape thereon, the worm wheel 34 rotates and it drives I the screw 36 and governor 32 attached thereto. The

The needle 29 is fixed to a tone arm 38 FIG. 1). A small crown 40 on the tone arm above the needle contacts an armature 42 of a speaker cone assembly 44. Vibrations of the needle 29 that are transmitted to the crown 40 and then to the armature 42 vibrate the center of a speaker cone 46 of the speaker assembly, to produce accoustical amplification of sounds.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the tone arm 38 has a V shape, with a pair of legs 48, 50 joined at their inner ends. The tone arm is pivotally mounted on a post 52 that is fixed to a mounting ring 54 attached to the rest of the housing 26. The needle 29 is fixed to an outer end of one of the tone arm legs 48, while a pin-like cam follower 56 is fixed to the outer end of the other leg 50. The cam follower 56 is engaged with a groove 58 of a randomizing cam 60. The cam 60 is rotatably mounted on a support 62 that extends across the mounting ring 54. The support 62 has a ring-like portion 64 that extends within a hole 66 at the center of the cam 60 to rotatably support the cam.

The purpose of the cam 60 and cam follower 56 is to move the needle 29 laterally (perpendicular to the length of the tape portion directly under the needle) across the tape 10 during unwinding of tape from the take-up wheel 14. The cam groove and cam follower are both laterally spaced from the needle 29. Accordingly, they move the needle 29 laterally so that the tape groove which the needle will engage is selected in a largely random manner. The cam 60 (FIG. is rotated by a rubber cap 68 at one end of the screw 36. The screw 36 is rotatably mounted on the housing 26 so that it can slide up and down towards and away from the cam 60. The amount of slideable movement of the screw 36 is small, but it is sufficient to enable it to contact the lower face of the cam 60 and move away from contact with it. During unwinding of the tape from the take-up wheel 14, as in FIG. 5, the worm wheel 34 urges the screw 36 upwardly towards the cam 60, so that the rubber cap 68 contacts the cam and can rotate it. Accordingly, during unwinding of the tape from the take-up wheel, the cam 60 rotates and the cam follower 56 pivots the tone arm back and forth to move the needle 28 laterally back and forth over the tape.

After a child has pulled the pullknob 18, hereleases it to allow the spring 28 to drive the take-up wheel 14 and worm wheel 34. The worm wheel 34 then drives the screw 36 in a direction to urge it downwardly away from the cam 60. The screw therefore shifts position so that the rubber cap 68 does not engage the cam 60 and the cam 60 does not rotate. Accordingly, the needle 29 remains at a constant lateral position to remain engaged with the groove into which it has fallen. The screw 36 is mounted to provide sufficient play so that it can move hard enough against the cam 60 to drive it and can move far enough away from the cam 60 to completely disengage from it.

The V-shaped tone arm 38 can be produced in a relatively simple injection molding process. The mounting of the needle 29 and cam follower pin 56 is easily acconiplished by merely inserting the pins in place so that both of them extend from the lower side 38L of the tone arm which faces the tape record. Furthermore, the tone arm can be installed on the post 52 in a simple manner and, since it does not have to slide along the post 52, it is reliably held thereon and can smoothly pivot thereabout. The use of the backing member 22 on the'frame which can move towards and away from the needle, eliminates the need for nee dle mov'er'nent towards and away from the tape record (except for vibrations to transmit sound). The backing member 22 is massive as compared to the needle, tone arm, and speaker, to provide adequate support for the tape. Thus, undulations in the tape grooves that define the recording, result in almost no vibrations of the backing member 22 and therefore result in large vibrations of the needle 29. The direct employment of tension forces applied by a child to the knob 18 orother meansthat may be utilized to be grasped and "pulled by a child, provides a simple mechanism for moving the backing member away from the needle.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art and, consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy phonograph comprising:

a tape record;

a take-up wheel coupled to one end of said tape record;

a spring coupled to said take-up wheel to rotate it in a direction to wind said tape record thereon;

manually pullable means on said tape for directly unwinding said tape record from said take-up wheel;

a stylus mounted to engage one face of said tape record; v

tape support means, separate from said wheel, biased against a face of said tape record opposite said stylus and responsive to tension in said tape to move away from said stylus, whereby said stylus engages said tape record substantially only during rewind of said tape record on said take-up wheel;

a pivotably mounted tone arm pivotable about an axis generally perpendicular to said tape face and having first and second sides respectively facing 'towards and away from said tape record;

said stylus extending from said first side of said tone arm;

a cam follower extending from said first side of said tone arm, from a location there-on angularly spaced from said stylus about said axis;

a cam rotatably mounted at a location on said first side of said tone arm and having cam means laterally spaced from said tape record and engaging said cam follower; and

means'responsive to pulling of said manually pullable means for rotating said cam.

2. The toy phonograph described in claim 1 wherein:

said tone arm is substantially V-shaped, the two legs of the V substantially radiating from the axis of pivoting of said tone arm and in substantially the same plane, said stylus being mounted at the end of one of said legs and said cam follower being mounted at the end of the other leg. 3. The toy phonograph described in claim 1 includmeans for guiding said tape across said tape support means in a path that wraps said tape at least partially about said support means, whereby tension in said tape urges said backing means away from said stylus. 4. In a toy phonograph which includes a tape record that unwinds from and rewinds onto a take-up wheel and moves along a tape path, in response to manual pulling of said tape away from the phonograph housing, and which also includes a speaker cone with a central portion for receiving vibrations, the improvement comprising:

a rotatably mounted cam coupled to said wheel for rotation thereby when said tape is pulled;

a V-shaped tone arm with a pair of legs radiating from a first end thereof where said legs meet, said tone arm pivotally mounted at said first end thereof about an axis generally perpendicular to the plane containing said legs and generally perpendicular to an adjacent surface of said tape;

a stylus fixed to a first of said tone arm legs at a location thereon opposite said first end of said tone arm in position to engage said surface of said tape; and

a cam follower fixed to a second of said tone arm legs at a location thereon opposite said first end of said tone arm;

said stylus being positioned between said central portion of said speaker cone and the path of said tape, and said cam follower being laterally spaced from said stylus.

5. The improvement described in claim 4 including:

a tape support disposed along said tape path opposite said stylus to hold said tape record against said stylus, said tape support being mounted to move towards and away from said stylus; and

spring means urging said tape support towards said stylus; and wherein said manually pullable tape is oriented so that tension forces imparted to it during pulling urge said tape support away from said stylus. 

1. A toy phonograph comprising: a tape record; a take-up wheel coupled to one end of said tape record; a spring coupled to said take-up wheel to rotate it in a direction to wind said tape record thereon; manually pullable means on said tape for directly unwinding said tape record from said take-up wheel; a stylus mounted to engage one face of said tape record; tape support means, separate from said wheel, biased against a face of said tape record opposite said stylus and responsive to tension in said tape to move away from said stylus, whereby said stylus engages said tape record substantially only during rewind of said tape record on said take-up wheel; a pivotably mounted tone arm pivotable about an axis generally perpendicular to said tape face and having first and second sides respectively facing towards and away from said tape record; said stylus extending from said first side of said tone arm; a cam follower extending from said first side of said tone arm, from a location there-on angularly spaced from said stylus about said axis; a cam rotatably mounted at a location on said first side of said tone arm and having cam means laterally spaced from said tape record and engaging said cam follower; and means responsive to pulling of said manually pullable means for rotating said cam.
 2. The toy phonograph described in claim 1 wherein: said tone arm is substantially V-shaped, the two legs of the V substantially radiating from the axis of pivoting of said tone arm and in substantially the same plane, said stylus being mounted at the end of one of said legs and said cam follower being mounted at the end of the other leg.
 3. The toy phonograph described in claim 1 including: means for guiding said tape across said tape support means in a path that wraps said tape at least partially about said support means, whereby tension in said tape urges said backing means away from said stylus.
 4. In a toy phonograph which includes a tape record that unwinds from and rewinds onto a take-up wheel and moves along a tape path, in response to manual pulling of said tape away from the phonograph housing, and which also includes a speaker cone with a central portion for receiving vibrations, the improvement comprising: a rotatably mounted cam coupled to said wheel for rotation thereby when said tape is pulled; a V-shaped tone arm with a pair of legs radiating from a first end thereof where said legs meet, said tone arm pivotally mounted at said first end thereof about an axis generally perpendicular to the plane containing said legs and generally perpendicular to an adjacent surface of said tape; a stylus fixed to a first of said tone arm legs at a location thereon opposite said first end of said tone arm in position to engage said surface of said tape; and a cam follower fixed to a second of said tone arm legs at a location thereon opposite said first end of said tone arm; said stylus being positioned between said central portion of said speaker cone and the path of said tape, and said cam follower being laterally spaced from said stylus.
 5. The improvement described in claim 4 including: a tape support disposed along said tape path opposite said stylus to hold said tape record against said stylus, said tape support being mounted to move towards and away from said stylus; and spring means urging said tape support towards said stylus; and wherein said manually pullable tape is oriented so that tension forces imparted to it duriNg pulling urge said tape support away from said stylus. 